My walk was dedicated in honor of:
Army Capt John M. Casey, Age 24 of Sparta, TN.
KIA Mar. 25, 1968 in Vietnam
He was assigned to the 371st Radio Research Company, 509th Army Security Agency Group
In the weeks following the Tet Offensive, there was a lot of action in the area surrounding Hue and numerous attacks on U.S. camps and installations. The night of March 25, 1968, seemed routine enough at the 371st Radio Research Company, the Army Security Agency’s direct support unit for the 1st Cavalry. There were the usual mortar explosions, followed by 122mm rockets whistling in. CPT John M. Casey, an Electronic Warfare Cryptologic Staff Officer with 371st RR Company, rousted the ASA troops out of their hooches and sent them running to the relative safety of their bunker. The men could hear and feel the impact of the explosive rounds pounding their area of the camp. When the attack was over, CPT Casey had been killed by a mortar explosion and SP4 Ross Applegate, an intelligence analyst in the 583rd Military Intelligence Company (1st Cavalry), was critically wounded. SP4 Applegate was admitted to the 18th Surgical Hospital where he expired the following day. Casey had given his life trying to protect his men. In his efforts to ensure that all of his troops made it into their bunker, Casey was unable to reach safety himself, and had been killed by a mortar round.
Had an amazing walk today. I want to thank everyone who honked and waved in helping me honor this hero. It was amazing. The weather was perfect and I took a little different route , it was great.
He will NOT be forgotten.
